Prior known from DE 100 62 251 C2 is an apparatus for measuring structural parts wherein a height profile of said structural part is determined by means of a laser type triangulation measuring system. This prior art apparatus is however restricted to determination of height images of a plane and/or cambered surface of structural parta.
DE 40 25 682 C2 discloses an apparatus for measuring structural parts wherein the height profile of an elongated structural part is determined by means of a laser type triangulation measuring system. This laser type triangulation measuring system is fitted with one only triangulation sensor which is directed to one only surface of said elongated structural part and which permits to measure said structural part in both a vertical and a horizontal direction while said part is moving relatively to said laser type triangulation measuring unit. The laser type triangulation measuring system is comparatively complex and only capable of measuring a structural part from just one side.
Prior known from DE 38 17 321 A1 is an apparatus for measuring structural parts which comprises a triangulation measuring system with two triangulation sensors for optoelectronic scanning of said structural part. The triangulation sensors are fitted on one common support means in one common horizontal scanning plane and positioned in vertical relation to a shifting direction along which the structural part is moved in the course of the measuring process. During said continuous shifting of the structural elements along a production line it is that the triangulation sensors each receive a measuring signal at a predetermined time which is then passed on to an electronic evaluator unit in which the coordinates of predetermined reference points are computed on the basis of a given triangulation relation. This prior apparatus is however affected by the drawback that the measuring system sensors need to be directed to already known reference points of the respective structural part. Complete measurement of the structural part's surface structure is hence not reliably ensured.
It is an object of this present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for measuring structural parts that permit non-contact measurement of three-dimensional geometries of structural parts with a minimum of effort and expense.